FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT EASY RIDER - PAGE 3

As Harley-Davidson world headquarters, Milwaukee knows how to throw a motorcycle party. The trick is to invite everyone who ever considered a bar-and-shield tattoo and put on a parade. The Milwaukee Art Museum is getting into the act this month with a party it calls Rolling Sculpture. Part exhibition and part event, the idea is to entice the Harley faithful on a pilgrimage to American motorcycling's holy land for the traveling exhibition "Pop Impact! From Johns to Warhol," showing at the museum through Oct. 15. To add a Milwaukee flavor to the nation-trotting collection of works by such Pop art icons as Jasper Johns and Andy Warhol, the Milwaukee Art Museum teamed up with hometown Harley to present two hogs that defined an era: Captain America and the Billy Bike from the film "Easy Rider."

Chicago native and music legend Quincy Jones will join actress/singer Julie Andrews, actor Jack Nicholson, pianist Van Cliburn and opera great Luciano Pavarotti as this year's winners of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Honors awards. The honors, announced Wednesday, are for life achievement in the performing arts. Considered the nation's highest tribute in the performing realm, they have been likened to the titles the crown bestows on deserving performers in England.

For all his other accomplishments, Peter Fonda is frozen in time as the big-sideburned free spirit, Captain America, from 1969's biker classic "Easy Rider." He still loves to talk about it. After slipping out of public view, Fonda made a dramatic return as the repressed beekeeper in 1997's "Ulee's Gold." Last year, he wrote his memoir, "Don't Tell Dad." A replica of Captain America's chopper is part of "The Art of the Motorcycle," an exhibition at the Field Museum, Roosevelt Road and Lake Shore Drive.

Time control, that's what Americans want, the ability to eat, sleep, work and play when they darn well please. The Roper Organization, which measures public opinion, points to several ways in which this trend manifests itself. Convenience stores and fast food franchises are burgeoning, as are the sales of microwave ovens. Home shopping networks are the next wave. Perhaps the ultimate symbol of what time-poor Americans want is the VCR. You acquire things when they happen, but devour them whenever you want.

Carlucci's bread sticks are at half-mast. JAM IT Michael Jordan was in Atlanta on a sponsorship deal Monday, and quite naturally faced a bunch of questions at a small media gathering. Among other things, Jordan said "Dream Team I"--his team--was better than this year's, and he said some members of the Orlando Magic are in trouble with Shaquille O'Neal going to Los Angeles. "Orlando is going to go through an identity crisis," Jordan said. "Penny (Hardaway) is going to be maybe even better, but other players are going to be exposed without the double-teaming of Shaq--especially Dennis Scott and Horace (Grant)

Rick Vargas smiled at his new motorcycle, the one without a motor, throttle, transmission or colorful paint job. To Vargas, transforming the dull, gray frame into a flashy, two-wheeled machine is half the fun of owning a custom-built motorcycle. "It's a hobby," said Vargas, 28. "You like to keep spending money on your bike, because you want to have the best." Ken Joiret, 38, knows most motorcycle enthusiasts are like Vargas. So in April, Joiret opened Custom Cycles in Antioch.

George Clooney checked his charm at the door for the lead role in "Solaris." He would embody love, loss and existential angst. So what is the first thing that comes out of the pre-movie hype? His derriere. The actor's latest collaboration with Steven Soderbergh that opened Friday was being tagged with an R rating because Clooney's behind was overexposed in love scenes with Natascha McElhone. It was downgraded to PG-13 after much-publicized wrangling. "Too much butt, you think?"

"Film noir." Those two words are usually enough to steer me clear of almost any movie. I`ve never been one for the "hardboiled tough guy fights off dames and stays a step ahead of the law" school of film. Well, when the ads for "The Hot Spot" promised me "film noir like you`ve never seen it before," I decided to take director Dennis Hopper up on his offer. And of course, with demented flair, he delivers. As the movie begins, Harry Madox, played by Don Johnson, drifts into a stifling Southern town where the yokels are too stupid to lock their bank's vault and the chief business is a sleazy striptease joint.

Motorcycles roaring along America's interstate highways and country roads may remind senior travelers of images they saw in their younger days on movie screens. They remember outlaw gangs and young rebels like those in the 1954 Marlon Brando movie "The Wild One," or hippies played by Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper in the 1969 film "Easy Rider." Fonda is 60 now, and still a biker. He is among the growing number of 50-plus motorcyclists who are pushing up the average age of enthusiasts every year, according to the National Motorcycle Museum & Hall of Fame in Sturgis, S.D. Sturgis is the site of an annual motorcycle rally and races begun in 1938.

TUE 5/13 Easy rider Show off your "Fukudome Is My Homie" T-shirt without adding to Lakeview traffic when the Cubs face off against the Padres Tuesday night at Wrigley Field. Just fuel up pregame at Mrs. Murphy and Sons Irish Bistro, where you can park for free (space permitting) and hop a free Cubs shuttle to Murphy's Bleacher's (3655 N. Sheffield Ave.) to watch the action with VIP bar access. Shuttle service runs for two hours before and after the 7:05 p.m. game. Deal continues through Sept.